Great Leap Forward

The Greap Leap Forward was an economic and social campaign by the Communist Party of China from 1958 to 1962. The campaign was led by Chairman Mao Zedong and aimed to rapidly industrialize and collectivize the country, transforming it from an agrarian economy into a socialist society. Private farming was prohibited, and those engaging in it were branded as "counter-revolutionaries". Those opposed the campaign underwent public humiliation and, sometimes, forced labor, and enormous amounts of investment produced very few increases in production. Many farmers also gave their grain to the government, which intended to sell it to Eastern Europe's communist nations; however, the grain was rotten upon arrival, and the Chinese people began to starve. The Great Chinese Famine led to between 15 and 30 million deaths, and the Great Leap Forward was terminated in 1962. Mao Zedong decided to make a self-criticism and abstained from the operations of government over the next few years, allowing for Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping to control policy. However, he made a political comeback in 1966 during the Cultural Revolution.